Leftism -- whether it's communism or globalism or democratic socialism or anything in between -- does nothing, but keep its victims small, weak, dependent, impoverished and enslaved little boys and girls.

Leftism -- whether it's communism or globalism or democratic socialism or anything in between -- does nothing, but keep its victims small, weak, dependent, impoverished and enslaved little boys and girls.

I'm one of the guys, maybe naive, who is of the opinion that corporations should pay no taxes. The people who get the astronomical salaries are the ones who should be paying the tax. Whoever puts the money in their pockets should be paying their fair share. As it is now, the loopholes allow people and corporations to avoid most taxes.

I'm sure that Bloomberg was not expecting Taleb to support Trump based on Trump's roadmap.

Taleb ran through his 5 positive points in May of 2017, only 5 months after Trump was in office. ALL have come to pass.

"Globalization is the real train wreck ... Too many elitists (stan won't like this -- still stinging) ... Obama left us with 8 years of novocaine."

Leftism -- whether it's communism or globalism or democratic socialism or anything in between -- does nothing, but keep its victims small, weak, dependent, impoverished and enslaved little boys and girls.

The Dow and broader U.S. stock market plunged anew on Thursday after the European Central Bank (ECB) launched fresh stimulus measures to combat a slowing regional economy. The shocking announcement brought recession fears back to the fore as investors continue to navigate a synchronized slowdown in global growth.
Dow Plunges; S&P 500, Nasdaq Follow
All of Wall Street’s major indexes declined sharply through the morning, reflecting a volatile pre-market session for U.S. stock futures. By the end of trading, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 200.23 points, or 0.8%, to close at 25,473.23. That was its fourth consecutive drop. The Dow was off more than 300 points at its lowest point during the day.

Twenty-six of 30 Dow members recorded declines, with Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc. (WBA) leading the declines.
The broad S&P 500 Index declined 0.8% to settle at 2,748.93. Ten of 11 primary sectors recorded losses, with consumer discretionary shares falling 1.4% on averages. Financials stocks declined 1.1% while information technology and materials each fell 0.9%. Utilities, long considered a defensive play, was the lone bright spot, gaining 0.3%.

I agree with what TALEB states, however, Trump is not that smart, and his ego has already taken credit for the market upswing, so he will be blamed for any fall. Because of this he will hopefully make a deal with China, and my investments will increase, at this point in this crazy world, all I care about is my money....yes I am becoming American!!!

. . . he will hopefully make a deal with China, and my investments will increase, at this point in this crazy world, all I care about is my money....yes I am becoming American!!!

There's nothing wrong with cheering for success when global markets are affected. It's about preserving what you earned over your entire life.

You can still hate Trump personally, but hope he does good things. As I've stated many times, he wasn't my candidate; but I embrace all the good that he's done and hope his string of successes continue.

Leftism -- whether it's communism or globalism or democratic socialism or anything in between -- does nothing, but keep its victims small, weak, dependent, impoverished and enslaved little boys and girls.

On international trade, he notes that deficits remain because other world economies are flat and consumers in other countries aren't buying.

Leftism -- whether it's communism or globalism or democratic socialism or anything in between -- does nothing, but keep its victims small, weak, dependent, impoverished and enslaved little boys and girls.

Wall Street could be in line for a string of good trading days as sentiment shifts and analysts get more bullish about stocks, CNBC’s Jim Cramer said Monday.

The major indexes caught a spark during the session with the Dow Jones Industrial Average climbing more than 200 points, the Nasdaq adding almost 150 points, and the S&P 500 growing about 1.5 percent.

Cramer said he expected the market to increase because of the way stocks fell and rebounded on Friday.

“Last week, sentiment just got too negative, and when everybody’s negative that means there’s hardly anyone left to sell,” the “Mad Money” host said. “With no natural sellers, the market can roar across the board.”

“If I’m right that the sellers have exhausted themselves, then today won’t be the last good session we have, especially with the wave of positive analyst notes that I’m expecting this week,” he added.

Three tech stocks catapulted the market to start the week, Cramer said. He noted that analysts have turned bullish on names like Apple and Facebook. Additionally, Nvidia’s $6.9 billion bid for Israeli chipmaker Mellanox could yield more upgrades, he said.

Bank of America made an upgrade on Apple and revealed 10 reasons why its bullish about the iPhone maker. The bank liked that Apple flipped its gross profit from negative in the first half of 2018 to positive in the second half, its loyal user base, and the potential for an acquisition. Apple added 3.5 percent to its stock before the market closed, which helped offset Boeing’s losses on the Dow in the wake of the tragic Ethiopian Airlines crash.

“The only thing new here is the possibility of a re-acceleration in Apple’s service revenues, but it’s still—I found it fatuous—because it was about the Chinese no longer cracking down hard on gaming,” Cramer said. “I call that thin gruel, people. Don’t get me wrong, I agree with the upgrade—I still think you own Apple and you don’t trade it—but there was nothing revelatory here.”

Cramer also pointed out that Facebook got a hold-to-buy upgrade from Nomura Instinet. But as in Apple’s case, the host said there’s nothing much new in the assessment on the social media giant. Facebook has been shaking off negative headlines and CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced his plans for a “privacy-focused” future on Friday.

The stock gained almost 1.5 percent on Monday.

“Nomura recognizes that most people use Instagram to tell stories to everyone,” Cramer said. “Despite all of the negative press, Facebook hasn’t lost users, it’s gained them, and … it’s become almost a really cheap stock, especially now that the company’s planning to slash costs over time.”

Nvidia’s play for Mellanox gave a boost to the chipmaker’s artificial intelligence and data businesses, Cramer said. If the acquisition goes through, he said it could give the company an advantage over Intel.

“The deal may be defensive versus Intel, but it allows Nvidia to play offense,” he said. “It’s been on defense for so long, which is why I predict a slew of upgrades on the heels of this takeover.”

“Rallies based on a sentiment switch are often arbiters of some amazing moves, the best moves ... With Nvidia’s stock rallying more than target Mellanox, with the negatives for Facebook pretty well spelled out, and with Apple rallying on something that’s been true for years,” investors should be upgrading as well, Cramer said.

By coincidence, my stock market advisor sent me a "BUY" signal for new money Sunday evening and expects the S&P 500 to clear the 3,000 plateau in 2019. The bull market ain't over.

Cramer was former partners with Larry Kudlow, Trump's financial advisor, so I'm not surprised that Cramer is still bullish.

However, there's still some pessimism out there -- much of it media driven -- and that always comes into play.

Leftism -- whether it's communism or globalism or democratic socialism or anything in between -- does nothing, but keep its victims small, weak, dependent, impoverished and enslaved little boys and girls.

“The move in tech, it almost feels like they’re sniffing out something is coming” on the U.S.-China trade front, said Quincy Krosby, chief market strategist at Prudential Financial. “The moves in the semis and Apple are suggesting a deal may be in the coming weeks; perhaps not at the end of March, but sometime in the near future.”

Equities also got a boost Wednesday after the Commerce Department said nondefense durable goods orders posted their largest increase in six months in January, rising 0.8 percent. Overall durable goods orders also rose 0.4 percent while economists polled by Refinitiv expected a decline of 0.5 percent.

Meanwhile, U.S. construction spending posted its biggest increase in nine months, rising 1.3 percent in January. The leap was driven by a surge in public-project investments.

Looks like STEADY WINNING.

Leftism -- whether it's communism or globalism or democratic socialism or anything in between -- does nothing, but keep its victims small, weak, dependent, impoverished and enslaved little boys and girls.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics released data that shows annual inflation at 1.5% and wage growth at 3.5% -- a big advantage for workers in the US.

The index for all items less food and energy rose 2.1 percent over the last 12 months, a slightly smaller figure than the 2.2-percent increase for the period ending January. The food index rose 2.0 percent over the past year, its largest 12-month increase since the period ending April 2015. In contrast, the energy index declined 5.0 percent over the last 12 months.

Wage growth of 3.5% with inflation at 1.5% means higher actual income, more money in the pockets of workers, and increased purchasing or saving power.

It has been two years since the Trump Tariff Doctrine went into effect. The Cheerleaders for Failure were hoping for economic disaster and a crushing blow upon US consumers. Like most everything else that is bad and that they cheer, they have been deada55 wrong.

Brigadiers will not be happy.

OPTIMISM. MARKET DRIVER. STEADY WINNING.

Leftism -- whether it's communism or globalism or democratic socialism or anything in between -- does nothing, but keep its victims small, weak, dependent, impoverished and enslaved little boys and girls.

Consumer sentiment -- measuring optimism and pessimism of consumers -- is a main market driver of the US economy.

The early March gain in sentiment was entirely due to households with incomes in the bottom two-thirds of the distribution, whose sentiment rose to 97.4 from 90.0 in February.

Households with lower incomes expressed "much more positive assessments" than income earners in the top third of the US socioeconomic group. However, "all income groups voiced more positive prospects for growth in the overall economy during the year ahead."

The data indicate that real consumption will grow by 2.6% in 2019 and that the expansion will set a new record length by mid year.

STILL STEADY WINNING.

Leftism -- whether it's communism or globalism or democratic socialism or anything in between -- does nothing, but keep its victims small, weak, dependent, impoverished and enslaved little boys and girls.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 138.93 points to 25,848.87 as Boeing shares turned around to close 1.5 percent higher. Boeing’s turnaround was sparked by a report saying the company planned to roll out a software upgrade for its 737 Max aircraft. The stock had been under pressure all week after an Ethiopian Airlines flight using a 737 Max plane crashed on Sunday, which prompted several countries to ground flights involving the plane.

Gains in the tech and consumer discretionary sectors pushed the S&P 500 up 0.5 percent to 2,822.48. Tech shares also bolstered the Nasdaq Composite, which climbed 0.8 percent to 7,688.53.

The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite both rose at least 2.9 percent, though the laggard Dow gained only 1.7 percent amid Boeing’s troubles. The S&P 500 also posted its biggest one-week gain since November.

Stocks have been on a tear this year, with the three major indexes rising more than 10 percent each in 2019.

Optimism and Pessimism always push in either direction.

“Barring any macroeconomic news, any North Korea-related news, any negative news coming out of the China trade deal, I think the momentum is still just holding,” Katz said. “At the same time, [the market] is getting up there.”

Chinese Vice Premier Liu He spoke via telephone with U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, Xinhua news agency reported Friday. The report, according to The South China Morning Post, said: “The two sides have further made concrete progress on the text of the trade agreement between the two sides.”

The news comes after CNBC reported Thursday that Chinese negotiators suggest combining a state visit to the U.S. with the signing of a trade deal. Beijing wants a deal to be fully ironed out before President Xi Jinping meets with U.S. President Donald Trump.

“US-China trade negotiations will likely reach a temporary deal, transforming future negotiations into a framework to monitor China’s compliance with trade and intellectual property policies,” Alberto Gallo, head of macro strategies at Algebris Investments, wrote in a note. He added, however, that “binary events” like this “may not translate into tail risks.”

More hinges on the China-US trade deal than anything with North Korea, but China controls that too.

Leftism -- whether it's communism or globalism or democratic socialism or anything in between -- does nothing, but keep its victims small, weak, dependent, impoverished and enslaved little boys and girls.

"When we raise a tariff in general on steel, it means all the industries that use steel to make things, like cars and refrigerators, will see their cost go up, and they will pass those costs on to consumers,” he said. “So, consumers will end up paying a higher price for cars and refrigerators.”